


An Acre of Sky

by olimakiella



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post Hogwarts, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Crossover - Daybreakers, HP Creature Fest, HP: EWE, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-29
Updated: 2012-09-21
Packaged: 2017-11-08 20:16:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 20,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/447099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olimakiella/pseuds/olimakiella
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twenty years after the Dark Lord’s death, his mark has been left upon a world that is now much different.  With the economy in the drain and a new ruler of the food chain, there doesn’t seem to be much hope, especially when there isn’t enough food to go around.  With thirst madness setting in and no blood substitute in sight, how can the world survive?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **Disclaimer:** This piece of fiction is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made, no copyright or trademark infringement, or offense is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent. Many Thanks to the HP Lexicon and Google Maps (with Street View). Also thanks to Edinburgh University for their insight on instant spray on bandages. You’re all awesome.
> 
>  
> 
>  **Author Notes:** This was written for the HP Creature Fest of 2011 for the prompt: [Daybreakers](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daybreakers) where:
> 
> ' _in 2019, the most precious natural resource, is us_ '. 

 

PROLOGUE

The sunset was beautiful, she could see it beyond the doors of the veranda. Turning in the room, she could see the brightness of it on the walls as the Sun descended. French style windows encapsulated the beauty in pinks, oranges, purples and yellows. They were resplendent. A picturesque painting any artist would be lucky to capture on canvas.

The door to the veranda was solid and, in her cowardice, she hid behind it, pressed her face to it like a child. Nothing. She knew what it was supposed to feel like. _Warm_. She felt an empty echo of a shiver, like a phantom limb. The last two days had been filled with sensations similar to that, empty echoes of a feeling that would never exist again. There was nothing now. She’d watched those monsters turn her son, use her against him, promise him they wouldn’t hurt her. She’d already turned when they called him to them, but he wouldn’t – couldn’t – have known that. Then they’d locked her in this room. They guarded the door at night but fled during the day, hiding from the Sun like she was doing now. A reflex for survival. An unnatural reflex that was not _hers_.

She forced air into lungs that did not need them and pushed it out again. An empty action, but it made her feel better.

She wished she could see him again, just one more time before she left the world.

With a determined set in her frame, she twisted the lock of the double doors and pulled them open, walking outside into the Sun. She felt the heat of it. _Warm_ and comforting on her face and hands. When the warmth became true heat, she ran as fast as she could and jumped over the balcony. As she fell, Narcissa hoped that, one day, her son would understand.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 1

*****Twenty Years Later*****

Draco rubbed at his eyes tiredly. The news continued on behind him as he worked. He paid it no mind. The topic wasn’t new, since everyone was aware of the current global crisis. He chuckled to himself. He’d been warned about it since the war, since the Great Conversion of 1999, and by none other than _Granger_. But he’d done it to save his life, to save his mother’s life. He’d watched as others signed up to convert or die. They also fell for the lies, for the propaganda. But they followed by example.

August 12th was the day that Draco noticed Harry Potter standing in the line. The brunet hadn’t cried or given an explanation, nor had he said a word to the goading jeers of the Dark Lord. He’d just stared and taken the bite in silence. Surprisingly, it wasn’t shock that registered in his system, but disappointment. It wasn’t until three weeks later (when Draco was in the Manor’s kitchen and Harry Potter, along with Weasley and Longbottom, snuck in through his side door, armed with wands and a familiar sword), that he understood. Harry Potter had done it to save lives too, just not his own. He’d stepped aside, to their surprise, and opened a drawer, mindful of the wands pointed at him. He handed the parchment to Weasley.

_“This map is given to all new members of staff.” He stared at Potter. The green irises were gone, replaced with the pale blue everyone had to now grow accustomed. “After he killed my mother, he forced my father into a guest room and took over the master.” He picked up his glass of red wine – twenty percent type A – and bid them goodnight. Before they could yell at him, he granted them one last piece of information. “Granger’s alive in the basement.”_

Draco sighed as he, once again, ran his eyes over the multiple sheets of parchment and potions ingredients laid out before him. His work was both important and tiring at the same time. Even his colleagues fell asleep where they sat. He glanced over at Theodore. The young man – still a youthful eighteen, even after twenty years – was snoring at his workstation in the pure white laboratory. Next to him sat a muggle computer, which had taken them a while to understand. At the moment, the page, open and bright on the screen, showed an email from the head haematologist at the research facility in the London Independent Hospital, re-opened just ten minutes away on Beaumont Square after the Great Conversion. It stood as the main hub of import and export for blood, the quantity of which was depleting.

Testament to Granger’s reputation, it had taken two years for world leaders to catch up to her brilliance. The advertisements were all well and good, promising young life and an escape from death. The pictures that moved showed a night-life filled with happiness and absent of pain. Everyone thought eternal life would be a gift from Merlin, or whatever deity they believed in. As Draco packed up his workspace and leaned over to wake up Theo, he absently listened to the news report on the muggle television behind him.

_“...where the increase of attacks from these creatures has invoked riots, which continue in third world countries as blood supplies continue to dwindle. Zabini ABRHO Tech leader, Mrs Nalini Zabini, is still unable to be reached for comment on the low amounts of blood being shipped to the territories of the southern hemisphere...”_

Draco never would have thought himself to be a part of this insanity. But his life held a vested interest in the success of the company’s venture. With the blood supply going down so quickly, and the one company able to supply it not having a blood substitute ready, many high earning companies had already begun pulling their stock, making the price of blood skyrocket. Now average citizens couldn’t afford it anymore, resulting in the terrible news reports of attacks from subsiders coming in daily. It was an ongoing cycle of disaster. If only they knew, blood may not have been _exported_ to the southern hemisphere, but it was certainly being imported. As Theo jumped out of sleep and opened his pale blue eyes, Draco chuckled at the irony of the situation. Being turned was supposed to be a saving grace. It was _meant_ to save lives.

They’d been wrong.

 

Draco exited the building after bidding Theo goodnight and made his way across the road to the car park. The billboard to his left as he crossed the street bleared brightly under the lights.

 

 Draco ignored it and continued walking, passing the other adverts on how to react when you came into contact with a human. The first time he’d seen it, he’d laughed. Number one on the list was: _’Stay calm and do not feed.’_ Draco felt sorry for his past self, the one who didn’t realise the mess he’d got himself into.

Last dusk, he’d had no choice but to use the car. His recent bout of sickness over the blood he received from the care package, given to all employees, had him refraining from eating. He’d filled his stomach with cold water that morning until he felt full, before going to work. Unfortunately, he did that the day before, and the month through before that. Apparition was impossible with the state he was in. The car was a company car, also a part of the ‘care package’ included in his contract. Employees in his department couldn’t be turning into dust while still looking for a blood substitute. That wouldn’t do.

He unlocked his car, disregarding the body shield as it disabled and slid away. He waited the three seconds it took for the car to disarm, opened the door and slid in. Eyes shutting tiredly, he leaned forward against the steering wheel. As soon as his eyes were closed, that large cavernous room entered his mind again. He could see the rows upon rows of bodies lined up on a large, two storey rack of clear body bags. He swallowed reflexively as the faces stared at him. He wasn’t supposed to be there after hours. He’d only gone down there because he’d been looking for Blaise and he knew the Collectors’ route always went to Containment after a Collection. Their relationship had changed somewhat since the Conversion. Blaise truly enjoyed what he did, even if it was a job alongside muggles. _A man’s got to eat, Draco_ , was the first thing to set Draco’s mind out of ease. He’d stopped going out with the ‘boys’ for drinks after work, because of the banter. _Oh, come on! No one misses a pint or two, do they?_ Blaise’s complete love for his job – his self-titled ‘calling’ – was also a revisited topic in their arguments. The man may well be his friend, but they had less and less in common every time they saw each other. Now, Draco knew what Collectors did, what Blaise did. _Seeing_ it was something else entirely. Draco started his engine, still seeing the small girl being sedated and having an endotracheal tube forced down her windpipe. He could still see her getting sealed into that large, clear body bag and strung up with the rest of the night’s collection, like clothes on hangers in a morbid haberdashery.

He hadn’t drunk a drop of blood since that day. Stopping at a red light, he contemplated the consequences of his actions. It was all over the news lately, attacks from creatures that no one had seen before, creatures created from starvation, from being so hungry they were forced to drink from themselves or others like them. He’d seen a few because of where he worked. Theory was, if the substitute worked on them, it would work on anybody. So far, his team had no luck in finding an appropriate blood substitute. When the light turned green, Draco checked his mirrors before he accelerated and caught his reflection in the rear view mirror. If his heart could skip a beat, he was sure it would have then, as he caught a glimpse of a pointed ear. A pointed ear, the first sign of becoming one of _them_ , of becoming a subsider. He leaned up to get a closer look, tucking his shoulder-length hair behind it and gasping in reaction to the point of cartilage that stared back at him, unrepentant. A direct result of his actions. On reflex, his lungs expanded and contracted heavily, his mind so distraught, he did not see the red light he ran, nor the car coming at him.

A benefit to being an employee of Zabini ABRHO Tech, though he would never admit it, was the care package – namely the car that came in it. The Agricite-Titatium (lovingly nicknamed Argritium) alloy shield, that covered the car during sunlit hours, had multiple uses. For instance, the strength of both metals combined, and the CUV (Crash and Ultra-Violet light) trigger response time of 0.03 seconds upon impact, ensured that any person within the car had a ninety-seven percent chance of survival.

Got to love those odds.

Besides. _Vampire_.

Draco shook his head, feeling a little dizzy as the car stopped spinning. He disengaged the shield once more to take a look around. He blinked, not sure what he was seeing for a second, before he realised the other car did not have a shield up like his own. He pulled out his mobile phone and quickly dialled 999, giving his location and what had happened. After he hung up, he got out quickly and raced across the street. He looked in through the window and, when he could see no one moving, he tried the door.

Draco stepped back from the gun pointed at his face as soon as the door opened.

“Move back, slowly.” Since he was already doing that, he didn’t see a point of disagreeing. “Guys, it’s okay, you can get out.”

Draco chanced a glance at the passengers, flinching as the gun cocked. “I suggest you keep your eyes away, Malfoy, before I blow them out of your head.”

Shock and dismay, at his name and the words, had Draco reverting his gaze to the woman in front of him. Though it no longer beat, he truly thought he felt his heart drop to the base of his stomach as he looked upon a woman he had not seen in nearly twenty years, since she’d been tied up in his basement at the Manor.

“Granger...” Nothing else could come out for a second, until he realised he could hear sirens. He noticed the others, there were children there. A little blonde girl was staring at him with big brown eyes. _Brown_. All vampires changed in the conversion, and since then, had clear pale blue eyes. They looked unnatural, it was always a very clear distinction. It could only mean one thing. “Humans,” he added with reverence. His gaze transferred to Granger again. “You’re transporting humans?” he asked her incredulously. “ _Here_?” he tacked on like she was crazy. Police automatically called Collectors when they found humans. His eyes went back to the little girl and immediately saw her being sedated and forced into breathing apparatus, before she was hung up by her blood-type to go to the farm at BMI Independent.

_No, not again_.

He gestured with his head. “Get in my car. _Now_.” He unlocked his car at the other side of the intersection. Granger stared at him like she didn’t know what to do. He decided to revel in that later. When no one moved, he reverted to yelling. “If you don’t move now, you _will_ die.” He looked up the street, where he could see the flashes of blue lights and hear the wail of sirens. He turned to Granger, seeing the rest of her party running to his car. “Hurry.”

As she ran, he eyed the car they’d all run from. It was a mess. It was a wonder they’d all made it out alive. When the police car pulled up, he tried to watch the officer with a very dazed look. The driver, his partner, stayed in the car. Draco was glad for the rain that began to fall. Scent was harder to track when water got in the way.

“Sir, are you alright?”

“Humans,” he said in a low voice.

The words struck a chord with the officer, who tensed and asked him, “Sir, could you repeat that for me?”

Draco looked him in the eye. He seemed rather out of it. “Humans hit my car. When – when I got out – I wanted to see if the driver was okay... I saw humans. They ran that way.” He pointed up west of the intersection, the opposite direction of his car. “I haven’t seen humans in so long, I thought I was hallucinating. But I smelled them. They smelled so _good_.” He turned his head to look in the direction he’d pointed to. Needless to say, the police officer didn’t need to hear anymore.

“Can you get home by yourself, sir?” Draco nodded absently, his eyes still locked in place. He heard a sigh. “Then I suggest you do that. Don’t worry, sir, we’ll find them.” Draco nodded again and watched as the officer pulled out his radio. “Confirmed RTC, victim fine, S/V written off. Human suspects GOA. Requesting back up and Collectors, over.” Then he and his partner were gone.

Draco followed the squad car with his eyes until he couldn’t see the lights anymore. Quickly, he turned and ran to his own vehicle, opened the door and slid inside to get out of the rain. He could instantly smell the blood from scrapes and scratches. When he turned, however, he realised the smell was from remnants only, as there was no one else there.


	2. Chapter 2

“The stock is _how_ low?” Nalini Zabini said angrily over the phone. “How is that possible?” She eyed the news on the television in front of her and waved off the hand that held the pen to her face. “We have no choice, then. Cancel the orders going out. If he don’t have it, we can’t ship it.” She hung up the telephone and collapsed back into her desk chair. “What were you trying to write on my face for, now?” she asked her Personal Assistant tiredly.

The former muggle put the pen on the desk in front of his employer and crossed the plush carpet of the office to get to her side table next to the lift. As he poured her a snifter of cognac, he could smell the high percentage of blood in it. It made his canines tingle. It boded well for him when she deigned to create a sigh of thanks as he rested it in front of her.

“How are the clinical trials going?” she asked as she sipped on it.

He stood still, waiting for her approval signatures. “They look promising, Ms Zabini, though there have been a few more failures.”

Nalini looked through the batch of paper he’d brought her. “What is this?” she asked of one document. The graphs on it made her frown.

He knew there would be an issue with that page. “It’s from Marketing and Sales. Due to the influx of companies pulling their stock out, the price of blood is going to have to rise again.” She rolled her eyes.

“I get one of these every week now. Does it ever end?” she said signing her name on the bottom of the page and dating it.

He shrugged. “So goes it in a time of scarcity.”

  


“Any changes?” Draco’s head snapped up to see Theo watching him tiredly. Two days now since he’d come into contact with Granger and those humans. It all happened so fast, he was beginning to think he’d imagined it all. He swiped his hand over his face. He never thought tiredness could affect a vampire. Turns out, stress affected everyone, dead or not.

“No. All subjects tested show negative results. X1486 showed promising signs but, after six hours, blew up like all the others. Anymore and our cleanup crew will quit, I’m sure.” He eyed the statistics in front of him. If he had a galleon for every subject he’d seen in the observation room fail their clinical trials, he’d sell up and move. Theo sat down next to him. Every employee belonging to the Haematological Potions Department was discernable from the others that worked at Zabini ABRHO Tech. They all walked with an air of exhaustion, resulting from many late days in the labs. “How is Pansy?” he asked, though, really, he didn’t care.

He had a feeling Theo knew it too. There was no love lost between Draco and Pansy. Herself and Blaise were part of the reason Draco accepted the damn bite in the first place. He’d felt nothing but anger when he’d come home to find Blaise and Pansy holding his mother by the fireplace as the Dark Lord spoke to him about the _wonders_ of vampirism. When it became evident the young blond wasn’t listening, the pleasant tones morphed into thinly veiled threats. He’d accepted to keep his mother alive, but they’d converted her while he recovered. He found out she killed herself the next day to avoid them using her to influence him again. She jumped out the top floor window of the west wing as the Sun set. She landed in the rose bushes, apparently. They cleaned the area well. When he crept out to the bushes the next night he couldn’t find a trace of her ashes anywhere. No one would tell him where she was buried. His own father wouldn’t even tell him where he spread her ashes. He moved out of the Manor shortly after.

Blaise, Pansy and himself shared a strained relationship now. They spoke, but the moment of betrayal was never forgotten on Draco’s part.

“She’s fine,” Theo said and the conversation ended there.

Draco got up and threw away the rest of his six percent Type-O-Coffee. He’d been desperate and caved like an idiot as he passed the coffee machine in the hall. It was bland, though, and every sip reminded him of that little blonde girl with brown eyes he may or may not have seen two days ago. Really, all he wanted was the caffeine, but the brown liquid had gone cold and the closer he got to the bottom, the more evident the six percent became. It made him shudder.

“I think I’m off home then. We’re not going to get anything done staring at the walls. The last clinical trial was unsuccessful, we now have to decide whether or not to start from scratch or improve from the batch used on the X1480s.”

Theo nodded from his workstation where he sat eating a reheated Pot Noodle. Draco could smell the thick coppery tang in it and knew he had to get out of there when his canines began to extend.

  


The convoy moved quickly in the backstreets of Manchester. Turning right on Bengal Street, they sped up, eyes alert in the front and back for any signs of Collectors. They roamed the streets at this time of night. The team would have gone during the day, but supplies were low and they couldn’t go another night without eating. They had children with them, after all. The old cotton mill in Ancoats, Manchester, was pretty much abandoned now. They needed to get to the entrance on Murray Street, to stay unseen and have a chance at surviving the three day trek. Having muggles with them meant they couldn’t chance an apparition. The Ministry had teamed with the government anyway, so all apparitions were monitored by the Department of Transport.

The blonde at the front pulled out her radio. “Convoy 12 team leader reporting.” She lessened the volume so that the radio static wouldn’t draw attention.

“ _We hear you loud and clear, convoy 12._ ”

“Requesting entrance on Murray Street, party of sixteen. Be there in two.”

“ _Roger that, I’ll send Nev to meet you in one._ ”

She never thought that the sight of Neville Longbottom would be a sign of accomplishment but, as the group filtered into the warehouse facility, she couldn’t help the feeling of success.

  


“You haven’t eaten.”

Draco jumped, his keys falling from his hand before he had a chance to drop them in the bowl on his entryway table. He looked down to the gun in her hands and then around his private home, trying to figure out how she got in.

She gestured with her head to the side door leading out of his kitchen to the back garden. “You have a cat flap.” Draco looked at her, more confused now than before. “Animagus.”

Forehead smoothening, Draco bent down to retrieve his keys and dropped them in the bowl properly. As he walked into the kitchen, he felt the decidedly strong and wanton stroke of his Russian Blue against his ankle. “I suppose you’re hungry, Asher?” He picked her up and placed her on the counter. The grey cat sat where he deposited her and waited as he opened the refrigerator. Hermione followed him and stood in the kitchen doorway. “So. To what do I owe _this_ pleasure, Granger?” he said as he opened a container of chunky meat and vegetables. Asher eyed the container hungrily and he pushed it toward her. He felt sorry for her sometimes. He didn’t get home until very late and she always had to wait for him to come back and eat. 

“We need your help.”

Draco frowned at her, now convinced he couldn’t possibly be crazy enough to imagine all of this too. “Who?” She shifted a little, her first tell that she was dubious. “Who sent you?” he said instead.

Hermione straightened. “You’ll have to come with me to find that out.”

He raised his eyebrows, amused. “Will I be needing a blindfold too?” he asked sarcastically.

She narrowed her eyes. “The rate you’re going, I’ll gag you, if you want.”

He eyed her carefully, his hand idly running along Asher’s back as she ate. Lucky bitch. “Why me?”

In response, Hermione dug into her khaki messenger bag and pulled out a thin card of laminated plastic on a metal ball chain. She threw it at him. Reflexively, Draco caught it, recognising it immediately. His company Identification Card. He thought he’d lost it. He returned his gaze to her in silent question. “You’re looking for a replacement. A substitute, right?” He nodded silently. “You helped us. You helped us get away when you could have turned us in, when you could have fed. I know you wanted to.” Her eyes, though still on him, shifted to the side a little and Draco’s response was to fix his hair over his ear, like he’d done so often in the past few days. “I saw it at the intersection. I watch the news too.” She cocked her head to the side. “How long?”

Draco looked away. “I noticed the night of the accident.”

Hermione’s eyes showed shock. “Only?”

He glared at her. “I don’t often look in mirrors. I haven’t the time.” The gun pointed at him didn’t waver. He wondered if her hand was getting tired.

She nodded absently in thought. “I always wondered about that. Not having a reflection is part of the lore.”

Draco rolled his eyes. “I’m dead, not invisible.” 

She was silent for a while. His gaze eventually drifted back to Asher licking the bowl clean. The tupperware plastic began to move across the counter and he held it in place. He needed to feed her more often.

“I can fix that.”

Draco snapped his vision back to the woman in front of him. “Fix what?”

Her brown eyes raked him from head to toe. “You being dead,” she said and shot him.

  


Draco groaned and opened his eyes to darkness. He made to reach his hand up to his chest, where it hurt the most, but his progress was slowed by his hands being tied together. He tried pulling them apart, but the rope tying them together was actually really strong. He wriggled.

“He’s awake.” Draco stilled at the male voice. He couldn’t see anything, but now that he’d been made aware of it, he could feel the presence of two people beside him. He was in a moving vehicle, though he couldn’t tell what kind. 

“You can take the bag off, then. He doesn’t need it anymore.” Suddenly, Draco’s eyes had to adjust to the light in the car, his car. He sat up properly from his slouch between two men and looked at each of them. They were human. He recognised them vaguely, like a memory of a relative he hadn’t seen in years. They looked the same, but at the same time they looked different. Thomas and Finnigan. Each of them had a gun pointed at him. His chest ached at the sight. Rubbing it with both hands now, he looked into the front seat to see Granger staring at him while Weasley drove. “Good morning, Malfoy. You slept longer than I thought you would.”

Draco didn’t exactly feel jubilant. “You shot me.”

“Be glad. They wanted to knock you out using more painful methods.” Her gaze drifted to Weasley as he drove. The red head scoffed but didn’t take his eyes off the road. It was dark and shadowed inside the car with the shield up, save for the bright sky on screen on the dashboard. Draco relaxed a little, still wary of the guns pointed at him. Instead, he looked at each of them in turn. Granger had looked different since the moment he met her again at that intersection. She was still young, but she looked older. He hadn’t thought to follow up on the wonder trio’s movements after he last saw them in his kitchen. He wondered how Potter was dealing with his chronic case of thirst. None of them had mentioned Potter’s name, so he assumed they either ignored it and didn’t talk about it, or he was gone.

The thought brought on a wave of melancholy he hadn’t expected.

  


Ms Nalini Zabini called for the person knocking at her door to enter. She was surprised to see Theodore Nott. “Yes, Theodore?” She glanced at the clock in her office. “You’re here late, the building shields have been up for hours. Do you have good news for me?” Nalini smiled silkily at her Haemotologic Potions Expert. Both he and Draco were her prized possessions. She’d read up on the clinical trials so far, there were promising results from these two. They were close, she could _taste_ it.

“I’m afraid not. I’m not actually here for that. Um-” Theo played with the pen in his hand, a sure sign he was nervous “-Draco went home hours ago, but he didn’t call me to say he’d arrived. I stayed because we had a few more trial survivors and I wanted to monitor them. I just woke up and realised I didn’t have any missed calls.”

Nalini cocked an eyebrow. “He could have forgotten.”

Theo shook his head. “No. He never forgets to call. Even if he’s dead tired.”

Ms Zabini drummed her nails against her desk with restrained boredom. “I’m not sure what you want me to do about it, Theodore. He’s not encroaching on company time. I can’t exactly force him to answer his phone. Why don’t you go and see if he’s alright?” She had better things to do than this. These two may be special employees, but they weren’t her children. Thinking of him, she wondered what Blaise was up to.

“I’ve called his home, many times, but I got no answer, so I went to our Collectors Department to visit Blaise.” Getting an indirect answer to her thoughts, Nalini sat forward to hear the rest of the tale. “Every company car comes equipped with a GB – GP - something to do with geography, like a tracking spell.” She nodded that she understood. She didn’t really get muggle devices either. Except for her television. She loved her television. “Apparently, you can track them down. I found Draco’s car, but I’m not sure I can believe where it is.”

“Where is it?”

“Ancoats, Manchester.”

  


“We’re here.” Those were the first and only words he’d heard Weasley speak since he’d noticed him in the car. Granger had mentioned that Weasley didn’t like driving with shields, but his car, as soon as it detected the UV rays, had erected the shield itself. Weasley hadn’t been too pleased, hence his lack of verbal skills. She said he’d swerved a little when it happened. Draco’s only amusement was that if the car had swerved off the road, he’d survive. Couldn’t say much for the rest of them. Served the oaf right.

The car stopped and the shield fell back to reveal a warehouse that they’d driven into. The lights were on inside and all the windows were blocked from the Sun, but Draco stayed in the car even after everyone else had exited. 

Blood.

Fresh, flowing, _living_. It was everywhere. In humans. Lots of them. “Oh Merlin, what the hell have I got myself into?” He sat still, not even wanting to open his eyes.

Hermione stuck her head in. “It’s okay, Malfoy. Everyone has filed out. It’s just us now.” As Draco inched his way out, he could hear Granger talking to the others. “Do you see what I mean now?” she said as if she was proving a case in point. Draco looked up and around. His eyes landed on Weasley. He was watching him with tempered suspicion. Draco frowned at him. The redhead scowled back.

“Why are you resisting it?” Weasley asked, as if the blond made absolutely no sense.

Draco didn’t have to ask what he meant. “You wouldn’t understand.” He looked away.

“You’re damn right I don’t.” Ron turned and walked away. “Fucking insanity,” Draco heard him grumble under his breath as he left.

Granger came up to him, laying her hand on his arm. “Ignore him. He’s just jealous.” She nudged him to walk the same way Ron had. Seamus and Dean brought up the rear.

Draco thought her delusional. “Of what?”

She smiled serenely. “Your restraint.” He saw her quick chanced glance at his ear and reflexively brushed his hair forward with his fingers. “His wasn’t so... _monumental_ , let’s just say.” Two snorts of laughter came from behind him as she led them up some stairs. 

Draco turned to the pair behind as he walked. They travelled in sync, almost, like the other half of a whole. “Bit of an understatement ‘Mione.” Draco recognised the Irish brogue as Finnigan’s.

He wasn’t particularly interested in the inner workings of Gryffindors. Instead, he took stock of where he was walking. “Where am I?”

“Ancoats, Manchester. We’re in an old cotton mill on Redhill Street. It’s water powered, that’s why we’re next to a canal.”

As far as that explanation went, she could have just said ‘Manchester’. “Why did you bring me here?” he asked instead.

Hermione stopped at a door and knocked. “Like I said. We need your help.” At the ‘come in’, she opened the door.

“And like I said,” he answered in kind as she ushered him inside, “who is _we_?” She wasn’t being very helpful for someone who wanted his help.

“I think I can answer that.” 

Draco looked up and into the room that could only be described as an office. Standing up from behind the desk, smiling at him as if he were an old friend, was Harry Potter.


	3. Chapter 3

****

An Acre of Sky 3

“Manchester?” Flint said disbelieving what he was hearing. “What the hell is he doing in Manchester?” Marcus Flint had always been a very intimidating man. Coupled now with the force of his strength and unnerving eyes, any man would be foolish not to cower before him. He picked up his helmet.

Blaise shrugged and dug through his locker for his gun. He adjusted his jacket over his bulletproof vest. Bullets couldn't kill him but they fucking hurt. It was a bitch to heal a bullet wound, too. “Fuck all if I know. Mother says she wants him back here in one piece.” He grinned cocking his gun. “Has to protect her investments, she says.” He gestured for his mother’s Personal Assistant to come closer. He gestured to his team as they finished suiting up. “This is Terry, everyone, mum’s PA.” They waved or nodded in acknowledgement. 

Terry Boot lay out a map of Manchester and Environs. “Mr Malfoy’s Lojack in his car is, so far, located near a canal in Ancoats, Manchester. It doesn’t seem to be in a building, but, seeing as the database is saying that the shields are down and he’s in the middle of the road, it’s safe to say he _is_ in a building or underground parking lot.” He turned on his Tommy to reference the coordinates. “The GPS in your vehicles will lead you there. I’ve already programmed them. All you have to do is follow what they say.” He took out a money pouch. “It’s a four hour journey and you’ll need to take money for the toll. If you leave now, you should get there around one.”

Blaise stood up. “You all got that?” A round of nods was his answer. “Then let’s go!”

  


Harry gestured to the ties binding Draco’s hands. “Guys, really? Is the rope necessary?”

Draco was staring at him unabashed. “Potter? You look... _older_.” _How is that possible?_

The brunet seemed amused by this as he surveyed Draco from head to toe. “And you look... wow, you look _exactly the same_. I hope you know I hate you for that.” He took in a deep breath and released it. “Oh, that’s freaking me out.” He stepped around his desk to meet him.

 _He’s breathing_. Draco stumbled back at the revelation as Potter approached him. He ignored Granger taking a knife to the rope and his idle curiosity of how many other weapons she had concealed on her person. He stopped when the wall prevented him from retreating. “H-how...” His newly freed hands moved up in reverent awe. Potter helped him out and pushed his hair back off his face to let Draco get a better look at him. At his eyes.

His _green_ eyes.

“ _Impossible_...” Draco barely whispered. He’d _seen_ him get bitten. He’d seen him again, in his home, as he came to get Granger out and kill the Dark Lord. He’d been dead. He’d been a vampire.

 _‘Been’_ being the operative word here, obviously.

Harry continued to stare at him. “Not at all,” Potter said pulling down the turtleneck collar of his cream cable-knit jumper. Draco stared unabashed at the bite mark scars on his neck, so similar to his own. “Just difficult.”

Draco was shaking his head slowly. He couldn’t believe it. “How?”

Harry smiled as he turned to a window and let his fringe go. They were covered with blinds, installed for Draco's sake. “With the one thing we all feared. The Sun. I saw it as a way out. Turns out, irony has a sense of humour.” He smiled strangely and gestured to a seat in front of the desk in the makeshift office. “Sit down, Draco. I want to tell you a story.” Draco allowed the occupants of the room to herd him into the seat in front of Potter as the brunet sat on his desk. “Eight years ago, I was in a really bad place. Just the thought of drinking – it made me ill.” Those green eyes centred on him, flicking absently to his ear and back. “Somehow I have a feeling you know how that feels.” He sat back properly on his desk, leaving his legs to hang. “I stopped eating – long enough that I started to see the signs of the subsider." Draco reached up absentmindedly to brush his hair forward over his ear. "I was walking one night and saw a little girl. A human girl. I attacked her, but something hit me. Hard. Thank god,” he added as an aside. “I woke up at a god-awful hour of the morning and remembered what I’d done. I couldn’t cope with it anymore. I got in my car and drove. I drove until I didn’t recognise anything and then I drove some more. I stopped here, in Manchester, at the opening of the canal, when I couldn’t drive anymore and I passed out. The Sun was high and my shield was up on my car, but all I could think of was that little girl and what would have happened to her if I’d succeeded. If no one had stopped me. The Sun was setting when I woke up, so no one was around yet. 

“It was sad to me, that I couldn’t see the Sun anymore save for what I saw on TV. I hadn’t seen it in nearly twelve years. That’s a long time to not see a bright blue sky and grass the colour it should be. I reversed as far back as I could and, as I drove full speed toward the canal, I dropped my car shield. I wasn’t planning on the strength of the barriers, though. I hit them head on and flew through my windshield. I remember thinking the Sun was just as warm as I’d remembered before it got hotter and hotter. Just as I set on fire, I remember the sky. There was acres of it in bright purples and pinks and yellows. It was so beautiful. Then it went dark as I hit the water.” He sighed and stood. "I woke up further down the canal outside this old mill. I was out of breath by the time I got out of the water. And kind of cold.”

Draco remembered having those feelings, vaguely.

“It was a while before I registered what I was feeling. That I was feeling _at all_. When I came into contact with the first reflective surface I could find, I realised what I’d discovered."

Draco sat in awe. This was unbelievable. “A cure.” The revelation had Draco whispering. He could hardly believe it.

Harry nodded. He hopped off his desk and stood beside it, leaning against it with his hip. “We’ve been in contact with other vampires. Sympathisers to our cause. We try to find people who can be of some use, who can help us get our message out.”

Draco shook his head. “What message?”

Harry looked from Ron to Hermione and back at Draco. “We’re hoping to hold a Reversion. We’re trying to undo what Voldemort did twenty years ago. With blood supplies so low, people are rioting all over. Where humans were captured for harvesting before, they’re just hunted now and fed upon.” Draco winced. “And not everyone reacts the way you do.” Draco saw him glance at Hermione. She’d obviously told him of how they met up again. “I’m guessing you saw something to make you react that way, to make you stop eating.”

Draco looked down at the worn away carpet and swallowed thickly around the frog in his throat. “I... I saw them being prepared for the farm.” Just saying the words made him feel nauseated. He shuddered. Those absent blue eyes stared at him from behind the clear plastic body bag as the small body was hoisted high into the production line.

Harry was nodding at his words. “That is enough to turn you off food, I suppose.” Draco scoffed. _Understatement of the millennium_. “Well, from now you have a choice.” Draco raised his head to listen to him. “That is, if you’re willing to make it.”

  


“ _Take the ramp onto the M1,_ ” the computerised voice said.

Flint, driving the front vehicle of three in the convoy rolled his eyes at the voice. “As if I can’t read the bloody sign.”

Blaise smiled from his position in the passenger seat. “Just do as she says.” He watched out the front windscreen. The sun was high and bright. On off days when he sat at home alone, he would miss the warmth of the sun and wish he could just walk out into his garden and soak in some rays like he used to. He remembered Pansy and Draco splashing away by the lake at the bottom of the hill on his family grounds. Draco never tanned, simply went from pink to burnt. He smiled sadly. Those days were long over, if not because of their current condition, then for Draco's cold attitude towards Pansy and himself. Draco seemed the same, but Blaise knew he'd never really forgiven them for their betrayal.

Draco was better with Blaise than Pansy, though. Something Blaise was grateful for. It was probably because Blaise actually felt remorseful for being part of the group that used Draco's mother as a means to turn him. Pansy never seemed to care. She still didn't. Blaise often wondered how Theo put up with her.

The voice of the GPS system installed in the truck jogged him out of his thoughts. “ _Follow the M1 For one hundred and fifty-eight miles._ ”

The cab of the truck was silent and Blaise looked into the rear view mirror to see three other members of his team sitting down asleep. He rolled his eyes. Next to him Flint stared straight ahead unblinking.

“Oh, Merlin. I’m going to die of boredom.”

  


Granger took Draco's clothes, save his boxers, and put them on the dresser as he left the room in the robe she’d given him. Draco was nervous. He couldn't help it. A brief talk with Weasley outside hadn't helped anything. Weasley had told him that it hurt, like he was being set on fire in a room filled with petrol and dry wood.

Draco hated him immediately. 

He’d been burned by the Sun before a couple years ago. It was just his arm, and it had only happened because he’d forgotten to set the house shield when he got home one morning, but remembering that feeling alone had him antsy. The burn had taken days to heal and the process was not any less painful than the burn itself. It still tingled whenever he simply _saw_ sunlight. He didn’t need Weasley’s input. He gave the man a baleful glare and left him to go and sit on a bench in a corner. He eyed the apparatus Potter had spoken about dubiously. It basically looked like a six foot wide tube of metal. It stretched from the ceiling to the floor. He dreaded to think what was inside.

The door to the room opened again and Potter walked in wearing an open shirt over a t-shirt and jeans. Draco scoffed. He had no idea the event was worth dressing up for. Potter turned to him.

“What?” he asked as he unlocked the door to the large chamber in the centre of the room. It creaked as it opened.

Draco gestured to the rusted pipes and the grime-coated windows. He finished it off with a thorough raking of Potter's attire. “It all just looks so professional. I can’t contain myself, you see.”

Potter smiled. “Well, as long as we don’t kill you.” He gestured with his head. “Hop in then.” Draco stared for a full minute before standing up. He walked over to the metal door Potter was holding open for him and glanced inside. It was pristinely clean with a metal table equipped with restraints.

“For me?” he asked. He received a nod in response. “Oh, aren't you kinky, Potter. All you had to do was ask.” He walked inside and sat down. He could tell the metal was supposed to be cold, but he didn't shiver because of it. He wouldn't have even known if the thing was warm. He took off the robe and left it in his lap.

Harry closed the door behind him. “You use sarcasm as a form of self-defence. I don’t blame you. It is scary, whether you want to admit that or not.” He gestured for Draco to lie back, taking the robe and putting it on a table in a corner. “It’s midday, so the Sun is at its strongest. Be glad the Sun is even out, it’s Autumn.”

“Oh,” Draco said with a humourless chuckle, “I’m overjoyed.”

Harry smiled as he fastened the belts. “I can tell.”

Staring up at the ceiling, knowing it was about to be opened to let the Sun burn him to a crisp, Draco felt a sliver of dread overtake him. He supposed it was fitting. He felt the same jolt of fear when he had to walk the ten mile distance of the Manor ballroom to Gabriel, the vampire who changed him. “I wish I was drunk.”

Harry glanced at him and moved his head closer. His eyes were gentle when he said, “As soon as we’re done, we’ll get right on that. I promise.” Draco could see the promise in his eyes. He hadn’t seen an expression like that for a long time. Harry continued to stare at him, almost as if he couldn’t look away. “I’m looking forward to seeing your grey eyes again. You don’t look the same without them.”

Draco felt something inside him twist at those words. “Liar. You said I look exactly the same.”

Harry blushed and Draco eyed him curiously. He looked around at the polished sheen of the metal around him. Maximum reflection meant maximum light, which meant more Sun in the room. He took in a needless breath. It didn't do much, but it made him feel a little better. If all of this worked, he'd be doing more than breathing. “Well, it’s not a bad age to be stuck with, is it? Eighteen,” Harry said, fiddling with the restraints at his ankles.

Draco knew he was stalling for him. He appreciated the gesture. “Thank you.”

Credit to his character, Harry didn’t even need to ask what for. He nodded once and stepped away, finished with the belts some time ago. “Are you ready?”

Draco looked down his body at Harry, who stood with a remote in his hands. “You’re not leaving?” He couldn’t contain the hope in his voice and he hated himself for it. Harry gave him a smile and shook his head. Draco swallowed around the relief and blinked up at the louvers directly above him. They were outlined by the bright glaring light of the Sun. He was prepared to do it, but, somehow, knowing he wasn’t alone made him feel a little better, at least. He shook his head. “I’m never going to be ready for this.”

“The faster we do it, the faster we can go get hammered.”

Draco laughed nervously. He felt like crying. He wished it was possible. “Well, when you put it that way.” He took a couple of seconds, and then he nodded.

Taking out a small timer, Harry hit a button on the top and took in a deep breath. “We’ll be done before you know it.” He directed the remote towards the sensor above and pressed down the button that said ‘open’.

Staring straight up, the Sun warmed his face and Draco thought for a second that it wasn’t so bad and Weasley didn’t know what he was talking about. 

Then, he began to scream.

  


Hermione walked down the final set of steps into the main open warehouse of the old mill. She could see a lot of movement on the ground floor. Ron was over by the cars with a couple of mechanics they’d recruited a while back. They’d brought in petrol the other night with convoy 12 and picked up some stragglers on the way back. She smiled at the new family that arrived last night as they watched around the room. They probably didn’t think there were this many humans around them all the time. Her smile faded as she was reminded of convoy 12's members and her mind ran across Malfoy upstairs.

An arm pulled at her urgently, disturbing her thoughts. She turned to see a young boy. ‘ _Simon_ ’, her mind reminded her, was watching her with panic in his eyes. “Hermione, they’re coming.”

“Who’s coming, Simon?” 

Simon swallowed and she tried to hide his panicked look, moving him away from the centre of the room. They didn’t need a frenzy on their hands. “Daniel just radio’d in from Gunn Inn. There’s a fleet of three truck’s, each with Collectors on the A57, passing through Mottram Moore, toward Hyde Road. They’re on their way into Manchester City Centre.”

A frown marred Hermione’s brow. _What on earth would suddenly lead them here?_ Everyone’s eyes went up as a scream pierced the calm atmosphere. The muggles jumped while the magic folk startled, but then went back to what they were doing.

 _Draco Malfoy_. 

She turned her attention to the cars on the far left of the warehouse. “Come with me.” Together they ran to Malfoy’s company car. “Ron. Ron!” When she had his attention she continued. “I need Malfoy’s keys. Now!” She held out her hands and waited impatiently for him to dig them out of his pocket.

“What’s going on?” he asked as she hit the remote to disarm it and nearly tore open the driver’s door. She looked as far underneath the dashboard as she could go until she found the logo.

**_Lojack._ **

“Shit.” She stood back up. They _were_ on their way here. And what’s worse. Malfoy hadn’t even led them here. They had no one to blame but themselves. She turned to Ron. “We need to evacuate. Now.” She left him to it and ran to the stairs. Screaming or no, Harry had to know.

  


Blaise hung up his mobile phone. His mother could be a right pain in the arse when she wanted to be. “Is this it, then?” he asked Marcus and looked around the screen.

Seeing the sign, Marcus pointed. “We have to turn right here, I think,” he said, executing the move as he spoke.

“ _Turn right onto Redhill Street._ ” He rolled his eyes.

“I’m getting sick of that thing now. Can you turn it off?” His jaw was set into a stern grip while his face had been frowning for the last half hour.

Blaise figured since they were there already, he could probably turn it off. “How?” He eyed the small piece of machinery. He had no idea how to work it, since Terry or one of the coordinators usually programmed it for them.

Flint shrugged and huffed at the same time, looking around for a landmark as he drove. “I don’t know. But turn it off or I’m throwing it out the window. Sunburn or no sunburn.”

“ _Follow Redhill Street for zero point one miles._ ”

Blaise frowned. Leaving the GPS alone for a moment as he stared out at the road. He turned around to the rest of his team in the truck. They all shrugged, not seeing anything remotely looking like a building. Blaise turned back around, his face a picture of confusion. “There’s nothing here.” Flint agreed with him sitting back and stopping the vehicle.

“ _Your destination is on your left_.” The GPS stopped talking then.

The truck was silent. 

“Okay, now I’m going to throw it out the window,” Blaise said, still looking around.

They suited up, ensuring all parts of them were covered and exited the fleet of trucks. Looking around, all they could see was the canal on their right and an open lot of land on their left. Nothing. Then again, Terry had said that the car could be underground. Blaise now knew what he meant. If Draco was in his car, and the shield was down, he’d be frying right now.

The group of vampires searched in the Sun, covered from head to toe, trying to find an entrance to this underground lot, where they could find Draco’s car. It didn’t make sense, though, because the locator in Blaise’s hands was telling him that the car was above ground, twenty metres in front of him. He shook his head.

The sudden and quite startling appearance of a large, seven storey, red brick building made them all run back a couple of yards. The subsequent exodus of cars, trucks and vans, also made them all wonder what the hell was going on. That is, until he saw a person driving with absolutely no protection. His eyes narrowed and he looked back up at the building.

_Humans_

  


For the third time since they began, all Draco could think was that the heat was _astounding_. It seared and crackled on his skin, hitting his chest with laser-like intensity. Draco could feel small explosions in his ribcage trying to force their way out. Waves of energy trapped with no outlet. The pressure of it all was amazing. Draco could only liken the experience to that of meat in a pressure cooker. Spikes of heat ricocheted from his eyes to his toes. He imagined his skin burning black and becoming ashen, much like his mother’s would have when she threw herself out of the top floor window. His last thought before he died again was that he was glad to see the Sun one last time. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This piece of fiction is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made, no copyright or trademark infringement, or offense is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent. Many Thanks to the HP Lexicon and Google Maps (with Street View). Also thanks to Edinburgh University for their insight on instant spray on bandages. You’re all awesome. This fic was written for the HP_Creatures fest of 2011. THe film I got to base my fic off was 'Daybreakers'. Any part of the plot you recognise is from the film, everything else is mine.

  
  
The next thing Draco felt was a bucket of ice water being thrown on him. Under the sizzle that could be heard, and the flock of steam that rose from him, Draco called out, “Fuck! That is  _cold_!”  
  
There were bright splotches in his eyes preventing him from seeing. “Is it?” he heard in an amused tone.  
  
“Yes! Fucking hell, why did you do that?” There were hands scrabbling at his wrists and ankles. He tried to see who they were, but he couldn’t see anything.  
  
“Well, first of all, I had to wake you up but, mostly, I needed to shock you awake because I can’t carry you and right now an entire team of your employer’s lackeys are stalking around the building. We need to get underground now if we have a chance of making it to the tunnels.” There were shoes being put on his feet. He wriggled at the sensation.  
  
Draco blinked repeatedly as he shivered from the cold water. Underneath it all, his heart was racing at the excitement.  _It worked_. “I can’t see,” he said worriedly turning to Potter's voice. In the far background he could hear the sound of guns and screaming. He sat up and swivelled toward him and felt hands pulling his robe together. “Potter, why can’t I see?”  
  
“Thanks.” Draco could tell Harry wasn’t talking to him. “Get the car ready. Go!” Potter said urgently to someone while pulling him forward. He was pulled to stand, rather shakily, on his feet. A hand slid around him to secure itself around his waist until he could stand. He put his hands securely on Potter's shoulders. “You’ve been staring at the Sun for the better part of a half hour, Draco. If you weren’t a little blind right now, I’d be worried.” Something was put on his head. When Draco reached up, he realised it was a woollen hat. He smiled at the gesture, still not able to get the thought that  _it worked_  out of his mind. “I’m going to guide you, okay? You’re going to have to trust me.” Draco nodded, still blinking rapidly. “Hey, blinking won’t help. It will go away, alright? I promise.”  
  
“You also promised me I’d get a drink. So far I’m learning not to rely on these  _promises_  of yours,” he said blithely as he was tugged along.   
  
“It’s flat here so you can run straight behind me,” Harry said before running quickly, holding on to Draco’s hand. “I’ll take you out for drinks, if that’s what you want. I don’t think now is the time to be discussing dates, though.”  
  
Draco looked puzzled. “Who’s discussing dates?” he said as he was pulled up short.  
  
“Steps going down,” Harry interrupted him. “Twenty-five.”  
  
“All I want is to get drunk. I think I deserve that much.”  
  
“Oh, yes,” Harry said with a quiet chuckle as they rounded a corner at the bottom of the stairs. “You definitely do.” He heard movement and slowed down a little before quickly opening the door to his left and shoving Draco inside.   
  
“I’m glad you think so,” Draco said softer than before, following the brunet’s example. “I’d have to hurt you otherwise.”  
  
“Steps going down,” Harry said. “Forty, straight down,” he added and began the trek down one step at a time. “I’d love to see you try to hurt me now with those scrawny human arms of yours. The bad thing about being reverted is you get sent back to the age you were when you were changed. Sorry, but, even if you are thirty-eight, physically you’re eighteen, Draco. Can’t beat my body of twenty-six.”  
  
Draco, realising what Harry was saying, and that he was actually a little out of breath for the first time in twenty years, missed a step and stumbled. “Shit. Sorry,” he said and tried to pull himself up. Finally getting back his balance, he said, “Thank you.”  
  
“Anytime,” he heard closer than before and looked up to see those bright splotches of light were still at the centre of his vision, though the edges were clearing.  
  
“Had to pick now to go blind, huh,” he said to himself as they both reached to bottom and ran straight ahead.  
  
“It’s flat here, just keep running.”  
  
“Harry!” he heard and his breath caught as Harry stopped in front of him. His fingers tightened minutely on Harry’s bicep, not knowing what was going on. He could feel his heart racing while they stood in that split second before Harry yelled at him to get down. “Run!” he heard, recognising the voice as Weasley’s. Another body came into contact with him and he turned to push it away before Harry stopped his hands.  
  
“It’s Dean, it’s okay. Go with him.” Harry transferred Draco’s hands from his own to Dean’s. “Make sure he gets in that car, Dean. I’ll be there in a second.”  
  
“Wh-where are you  _going_?” Draco asked him panicked.  
  
A hand squeezed his shoulder. Draco did not think on the fact that he could recognise it as Harry’s. “Don’t worry about me, at least I can see.” Then he was gone.  
  
Dean tugged on his hand. “Come on, Malfoy. Let’s get you out of here, yeah?” He was pulled along again, this time with a little less consideration, before he was all but bundled into a car. “Ron, take the wheel, yeah? We need to get out of here.” Draco slipped a little in the car and had to bend awkwardly in order to sit right.  
  
“Whoa, Malfoy, cover up! I don’t need to see all of that.” This voice was new, he turned to the man that was sitting in front of him and blinked, trying to see if squinting would help. It didn’t.  
  
“Well, Malfoy, it seems you’re a popular guy, huh?” Weasley said from the front seat. He sounded further than usual.  
  
“It wasn’t his fault, as we well know, Ron,” Granger said from in front of him also. He was becoming very confused. “Neville, hold this for me please.”  _Longbottom is here too?_  
  
“Zabini was practically screaming bloody vengeance for him, upstairs. Said he knew we took him and had proof.” That sounded distinctly Irish. He followed this voice too. Finnigan must be next to Granger and Longbottom. That meant he had to be in a seven-seat vehicle.  
  
The door to his right opened, and the seat back he was holding onto moved forward and back. Just as the door shut, someone sat themselves next to him as the vehicle swerved and slowed down. There was a sigh. “What did I miss?” The measure of relief at hearing that voice was both comforting and annoying at the same time.  
  
“Malfoy flashed us, his long lost love is screaming for him upstairs and is apparently a pervert that spies on him in the shower,” Ron said from the driver’s seat as he accelerated through the tunnel. “What did you go for?”  
  
Draco could see him out of the corner of his eye. “Remote. You know how I love my remotes. So Draco flashed you huh?” The brunet turned to him. “See anything worthwhile?”  
  
“I am sitting right here.” He reached his hand out to grab something, anything to keep him in the seat as they went over bumps underground.  
  
“Did everyone get out?” Harry said beside him and turned in his seat to view the tunnel behind him.  
  
“We’re the last ones, Harry.” Hermione said in front of them.  
  
“Good. Where are we coming out?”  
  
“Post Office on Newton.”   
  
“Lovely. Draco, everyone, I think you should get down. Ron?”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“A bit more speed, if you will.”  
  
“Will do.” Draco wasn’t sure how to respond to that, until he felt more than heard the explosion behind them. The car sped up considerably, but his head was forced down between his legs. It was a good few minutes before the vehicle slowed down at all. It was a wonder Weasley didn’t get tunnel vision. “Where we going?” Weasley was looking in the rear view mirror to Harry. They rode up a ramp and a garage door opened to the daylight on Newton Street.  
  
“Hermione?” Harry asked instead.  
  
“The best place I can figure is one of our safe houses. We have a few but we need a remote one. Greatfield is our remotest on the way to London. We have to get on the M6.”  
  
Harry leaned forward to glance at the GPS Hermione had with her. “The M6 it is. Let’s go.” He leaned over to Draco. There’s a bar there. We’ll have you drunk in no time.” Draco could only see the corner of his smile.  


  
When Draco woke up some hours later, it was to Hermione’s voice saying, “Turn left here.” As the car turned, he was pressed closer to the person on his right. The warmth of him made Draco want to burrow in there. Finally able to see without bright blotches in front of him, he was able to catch the street sign in time.  _Green Hill_. The area was dark around this time of day.  
  
“Well at least we know there’s a bar around here, even if it took a wrong turn to get there.”  
  
Hermione huffed. “Riff’s Bar doesn’t sound too good to me.”  
  
Seamus scoffed. “ _Any_  bar sounds good to me.” He sighed. “We’ll have to take it during the day anyway.”  
  
“It should be on the left here somewhere.” Hermione pointed to the blue sign that said ‘Police Notice Keep Clear’. “This is a landmark. It shouldn’t be too far off now. What does that red and white sign say on the right?”  
  
Draco squinted to see in the evening light. “APL Travel.”  
  
She sat up straight. “Oh! Turn left here.”  
  
“Where?” Dean asked from the front seat.   
  
“That gate there. The house is behind these trees, at the end of the track.” To punctuate her statement, she switched off her GPS and sat back.   
  
Ron took off all his lights and took out his wand to cast a notice me not charm on the car. Dean did the same on himself as he went out to open the gate. Letting the car roll, Ron eased inside, braking only for Dean to get back in the car. Harry leaned forward to take off the car’s house light when Dean opened the door again.  
  
As everyone got out, Hermione turned to Harry. “I need to get in touch with the group leaders, hopefully everyone made it to a safe house intact.”   
  
“We need to make sure that the house is secure first. Stay out here with him, we’ll go in. Lock the doors.” Ron turned and lobbed the keys to her.  
  
“We’re getting back in the car?” Draco complained as Hermione gestured with her head. They’d just spent near four hours in there.  
  
“Only until they clear the house. Remote areas like this, we’re asking for subsiders.” She locked the doors with the remote in her hand. Some minutes later, there was a knock on the window where Hermione sat.  
  
“All clear, come on in.” The doors were unlocked and Hermione, Draco and Seamus walked across the gravel drive into the house. The ground was wet and Draco still had residual shivers from the bucket of water Harry had chucked on him before. He couldn’t wait for some heat, even though he’d vowed some five hours ago he’d had enough heat to last him a lifetime. The house wasn’t as warm as he would have liked, but he supposed that nothing would be warm enough, since he was only wearing a robe.  
  
“Dobby!” Harry called and the small House Elf appeared next to him.  
  
“Harry Potter is calling Dobby, sir?” Dobby bowed low enough, his nose touched the floor.  
  
Harry rolled his eyes, as he was wont to do whenever Dobby was in his vicinity. “You don’t have to call me ‘Sir’, Dobby, I’ve told you that before.”  
  
“Dobby is sorry, Harry Potter, sir.” Harry stopped him before Dobby could physically punish himself.  
  
“It’s alright, Dobby, I just need a ward. A strong one. We want to not be noticed and House Elf magic is both strong and untraceable.” He looked upon Dobby kindly. “Can you help us?” he asked.  
  
Dobby’s large eyes shone bright with tears. “Dobby would be honoured to help, Harry Potter.”  
  
Harry nodded seeing Hermione coming down the stairs. “Thank you.”  
  
“Good news is,” Hermione began as she hit the bottom step with a bounce, “we have central heating. Bad news is, there’s only one bathroom.” She looked around. “Oh, hello Dobby.”  
  
Dobby nodded to her. “Dobby is to be making a ward now, Mrs Weasley.” Dobby disappeared.  
  
“One bathroom?” Ron said. “That’s only a problem for you, Hermione.”  
  
Hermione glared at Ron and continued. “There’s enough tinned food to feed us all for a couple of days, but there are only two bedrooms.”  
  
“Well two of us will be on guard for the night anyway, so it shouldn’t be a problem. I kind of fell asleep on the way here,” Seamus said. “So I’ll stand out tonight.”  
  
“I’ll stay up with you then,” Dean added. “Since Ron drove and Hermione navigated.”  
  
“What about me?” Harry said. Neville nodded too.  
  
“No offence, mate,” Dean said diplomatically as he eyed Draco walking around, “but Malfoy’s kind of jumpy around the rest of us,” he added quietly. “That whole newly human thing, you handled it great for us.”  
  
Seamus walked up to him as they spoke quietly. “What Dean is trying to say is you’re better at looking after people than the rest of us. Besides, he needs the sleep anyway. I doubt he’ll get any without company.” Seamus shrugged. “You don’t want us up there with him, especially Ron, s’all I’m sayin’.”   
  
Harry sighed. It was true. Nightmares were likely, since the body now had to get used to things it hadn’t gone through in decades. “Alright, well... seeing as you’re both gonna be up all night, take some hot water first and get some sleep. It’s only five. Set your watch alarms for eleven.” Dean and Seamus nodded and took their leave up the stairs. Harry turned to Draco and got his attention. “When they’re done, go and take your shower. I’ll make us all something to eat and then you need to get some sleep. Your body just woke back up from being dead, essentially. All your organs are going back into proper use, you need to let it recover after you eat.” Draco nodded and sat on the sofa in the small living room. He took off his shoes and pulled his legs under him. “Hmm, I need to see if there are any clothes here that can fit you. You can’t be running around with bare feet and a robe. ‘Mione?”  
  
Hermione’s head snapped up from her phone. “Yeah?”  
  
“When you’re done calling around, can you find Draco some clothes? I’m gonna start dinner.” Hermione nodded.  
  
Draco got up and went into the kitchen. He found Harry digging through the pantry. “I could look for clothes for myself,” Draco said from the doorway. “She’s busy.”  
  
Harry looked up from the kitchen pantry. “I wasn’t joking when I said you needed rest, Draco.” Harry began searching through drawers and came out with a tin opener. “She won’t mind, but if you don’t want her to, you can have Dobby help.” His eyes traversed Draco’s frame. “I have a feeling the clothes that are stored here won’t fit you.”  
  
Draco folded his arms across his chest and stared out the window. If he concentrated, he could see the wards going up in intricate weaves of light around the perimeter. When he wasn’t human, he was able to see everything so clearly. He didn’t miss it. Moving his hand over his chest, he felt his heartbeat and shut his eyes. He liked being able to feel that so much better.  
  
“I have to get to London. I have to get in touch with Theo.” His colleague and friend would be over the moon to hear there was a cure.  
  
Harry turned from his pots on the stove. “Theo Nott?”  
  
Draco nodded. “He works with me at Zabini Tech, in the Haematological Potions Department.” He came further into the kitchen, the smell of actual food leading him closer. “He can help us. Both of us, along with others in the department, have been searching for a blood substitute. We almost found one the other day, but the subjects all blew up.”  
  
Harry stopped and turned to him as the blond leaned against the counter next to him. “Blew up?”  
  
Draco nodded. “Yeah, like,  _exploded._ ”  
  
Harry seemed a bit shocked. “Oh. Wow. Who did you test it on?” He seemed interested.  
  
“Fully formed subsiders. Some of them were caught in the riots, others were found in people’s homes.” Draco shrugged.  
  
Harry nodded and turned back to the stove. He took up the pot spoon and held it up, gesturing for Draco to taste it. The blond seemed hesitant, but did it anyway. “We need to settle here for a day or two, make sure everyone is safe before moving out. Can you wait that long? Or should we send out a party?”  
  
Draco licked his lips from the soup that escaped. It was a little hot, but it tasted good. “A party?”  
  
“Yeah. It’s obviously urgent that you contact your friend. I don’t think it would be a good idea that you do it by phone, though. If they’ve got cameras in your home, it’s no telling what they have in his. You live on company property, yeah?”  
  
Draco nodded, distracted now by the pantry. “Yeah, houses in an estate that belong to it.” He thought for a second. They were no closer to getting a substitute. Even if they were, having a cure now was revolutionary. He looked to his hands and saw the pink flush of it from all the blood that flowed there. From here on out, there would be friction, especially now, since he was human. He needed all the strength he could get. He stared at Potter's back, how it moved as he stirred the soup in the pot. He had a lot of time to regain; he wasn’t exactly at his strongest when he was eighteen. Perhaps a day or so would benefit him. “There’s no need to send out a party.”  
  
Switching off the stove, Harry turned to him. “Are you sure?” Draco nodded. Harry smiled. “In that case, get me seven bowls.”

“It should be enough to keep you warm at least for tonight. You’ll be under the quilt anyway.” He handed him the flannel shirt. “How was the shower, good?”  
  
Draco groaned remembering the feel of the hot water on his skin, so very different to the scolding of the Sun earlier. After the hot meal, it really hit the spot. “I didn’t think I would have wanted it hot, but I couldn’t stand the cold water anymore. It felt very good. Thank you.” He took the shirt and put it on. He watched as Harry took up residence on the chair in the bedroom. “That doesn’t look very comfortable.” Harry shrugged at him and Draco, subsequently, rolled his eyes. “I’m a big boy, you know. You  _can_  sleep here. I won’t mind.” Harry seemed to be making an internal decision. Draco drew back the quilt on the bed next to where he was sitting. Harry heaved a heavy sigh and made his way over. “Wow. It doesn’t usually take me this long to convince a guy to get in bed with me. I’m not going to molest you.”  
  
Harry laughed and turned over. “Not you I’m worried about,” he said turning back.  
  
Draco burrowed down and couldn’t help the smile that rose on his lips as he shut his eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This piece of fiction is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made, no copyright or trademark infringement, or offense is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent. The film Daybreakers (of which this fic is based on) is the property of Matt Villa Studio, Lionsgate, Screen Australia, Pictures in Paradise, Film Finance Corporation Australia,Pacific Film & Television Commission and Furst Films. I do not own it, I simply loved the film and the prompt by default. Many Thanks to the HP Lexicon and Google Maps (with Street View). Also thanks to Edinburgh University for their insight on instant spray on bandages. You’re all awesome.
> 
> Warnings:Vampires-->Blood. And death. Oh! And slash.

Harry was asleep. Draco knew he was asleep because of the deep breathing that fanned out across his neck, but each breath fell on his bite scars and they felt  _really_  good. For some reason Harry had migrated to his side of the bed. He wasn’t complaining, the solid hold Harry had him in was like a warm cocoon.  _Perhaps this is what he meant when he said it wasn’t me he was worried about._  He was suppressing the shivers that ricocheted up his spine as the sensitive skin on his neck was stimulated by even puffs of breath. He didn’t want to wake him up. The man had done a lot to save his life today, he deserved some rest, no matter that he’d said Draco needed it more. He’d forgotten his body could feel like this. Back when he was still eighteen, trysts were a powerful force to be reckoned with. After he’d been bitten, the passion always walked hand in hand with the thirst. The hunger. It wasn’t the same anymore.  
  
Harry moved in his sleep, and as he did, Draco breathed a sigh of relief and mourning. Those hands moved against his skin and Draco bit on his bottom lip to keep in the moan that threatened to escape. He needed to move. Now would be the best time. He turned over, hiding the scars, so Harry’s breathing wouldn’t have any access to them.  
  
Bad idea.  
  
Being faced with the sleeping man, and wide awake, Draco had no idea what to do with himself besides stare. He lay there in the darkness watching him and wondering what he was dreaming about – if he was dreaming at all.   
  
“It’s becoming creepy now,” he heard and jumped, startled. When he really looked, he realised the man was awake.  
  
 _Oh, hell_.  
  
“You okay?” Harry asked, his voice roughened with sleep. Draco nodded silent, not trusting himself at all to answer in a voice fitting for an eighteen year old, let alone a thirty-eight year old man. “Can’t sleep?”  
  
 _In these conditions? You must be joking._  
  
He shook his head. He heard Harry sigh. “Bad dream?” Draco smiled a little at all the questions, at the concern. When there was no verbal answer or shaking, Draco suddenly felt Harry’s hands on his face, feeling it all over. “Hmm, a smile? That must mean no.” The odd method made him laugh. “Ah, laughter. Must have been a good dream.”  
  
Draco decided it was time to answer. “I don’t think I dreamed. It was more the way I woke up, to tell you the truth.” He sighed. “I woke up to find it wasn’t a dream. I’m still here.” He turned onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. His fingers traced a pattern on the sheet below them. “You were still here. It’s real and I’m actually alive and I’m still bloody eighteen.” He laughed when Harry chuckled. “I feel so much older than I am and I hate it.” He smiled, covering his face with his hands. “But I love it at the same time.” He let them fall back to the bed and turned to face Harry. “Does that even make sense?”  
  
Harry was looking at him. He knew it. “It makes perfect sense to me.” Draco wished there was some light, even a little, just so he could see Harry’s expression. As he thought it, the tip of a wand lit the small area around them. Draco looked up at it, seeing the tip dim a little as a small ball of light separated from it and floated in the air. Draco reached up a hand to touch and it glided away from him and swerved back when he let his hand drop. He smiled at its antics. Harry replaced his wand under his pillow and Draco’s eyes fell back on the brunet. He almost wished for the darkness.  
  
“Sorry. I hate guessing at expressions. I like to see the people I’m talking to.” Harry seemed to realise just then how close he was to Draco and how far he’d travelled across the bed. “Oh god, was I all over you? I bet I was. Sorry.”  
  
Draco was amused. “No need, I was actually very comfortable until you started to move about.”  
  
“Really?” Harry asked watching him carefully.  
  
Draco nodded. “ _Definitely_.”   
  
Impulsively, Harry moved closer again and let himself rest in the spot he’d woken to find himself in. “Better?” he asked the blond, expecting a smart answer. Instead, Draco burrowed down in his space.  
  
“Much.”  
  
Harry stared at him, fascinated, much like he had been all day. The Draco Malfoy he remembered in his school days did not reconcile with the man before him, nor the man he’d met in the Manor kitchen twenty years prior. Draco’s grey eyes opened to see him watching and they, expressive as they were, wondered what he was looking at, without even changing the expression on his face. It was amazing. Harry’s gaze didn’t waver and he felt a thrill of excitement when he saw Draco’s eyes focus for a split second on his lips. He waited a little while longer, watching in the floating wand-light for a sign, anything.  
  
And there it was.  
  
Draco’s second momentary lapse of concentration had Harry burrowing down to Draco’s level of warmth. The blond was eyeing him speculatively, his eyesight cutting to his mouth more often now. Very slowly, Harry leaned forward to do something he hadn’t even been aware he wanted to do before. He kept leaning and, tilting his head slightly, he gently brushed his mouth across Draco’s once, twice, before settling into a soft kiss that captured and recaptured Draco’s mouth with his. He waited for Draco’s reaction and when pale fingers pushed a stray curl out of Harry’s face as he moved closer under the covers, his nerves danced as they focused on those hands, that now migrated to his hair and down to stroke his jaw. An inexplicable warmth curled low in his stomach and his eyelids drooped of their own accord.   
  
Harry felt Draco’s fingers tracing a path across his scalp again, guiding him in the kiss as he sucked his tongue. Harry groaned, rolling forward, and nudged Draco’s legs apart with his knee to settle there. They parted with ease and Harry sighed in contentment as he relaxed into the space Draco made for him. He ground down slowly and felt a thrill of satisfaction when he heard Draco groan and cant his hips up to meet him in response. Draco broke the kiss to get some air and bent his head back as Harry kissed his way across his jaw and down to his neck.  
  
 _So much for hiding my scars_.  
  
Harry shuddered as Draco’s hands raked their way through his hair and down to his neck and back. One hand made its way up his t shirt to rest at the base of his spine, while the other played at the nape of his neck. The blond was verging on sensitive territory, where his bite marks were. He knew they were awfully ticklish, that was the reason why he always had them covered. He had no idea they were an erogenous zone until Draco nipped him there playfully. But then Draco twisted his hips, and Harry stopped thinking altogether, his hips canting in reaction.  
  
The warmth in the pit of Draco’s stomach spread outward in a rush as Harry traced his palms over the skin of Draco’s outer thighs, then over his hips, and up behind his back, thrusting shallowly against him. It was warm in the confines of the quilt and Harry ran his tongue teasingly along Draco’s lips, smiling when they parted for him. Before he could protest, Draco had shoved his tongue inside his mouth as he kissed Harry ruthlessly.  
  
When they parted, Draco was watching him through a heavy haze of arousal, panting hard as they thrust against each other towards completion. When Draco came he saw splotches of light that blocked him from seeing and he wondered if the condition was a relapse. Harry collapsed against him, still breathing heavily, but kissing him in the places his mouth could reach.  
  
Draco rested his head back against the pillow and let Harry have at it. “Mmm,” Draco said. “If I couldn’t sleep before I definitely can now.” His fingers tightened in Harry’s T shirt when he felt the man lick his neck, directly over his scars. Draco’s breath hitched and Harry raised his head to look at his reaction. The brunet smiled knowingly and lowered his head one more time to kiss him, their tongues tangling in their moans, tasting and touching lazily.  
  


  
  
Pale blue eyes searched the room for an exit. The doors were all locked and the windows were far too high to escape from and far too thick to try and break. She didn’t know what to do. Heaving a heavy breath she collapsed into a seat and waited, wondering exactly what the elusive Nalini Zabini had in store for her.  
  
As if reading her mind, the lock to the door clicked open and Nalini Zabini walked in followed by her son Blaise. He was watching her much like he had when he’d found her in the warehouse, a mixture of hunger, curiosity and awe. It was an odd mix on his face, she didn’t recommend him to repeat it. The truck had been speeding away back to London long before the old mill on Redhill Street blew up and collapsed in on itself.  
  
“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” Nalini began.  
  
She rolled her eyes at the comment.  
  
“So, what’s your secret?” Nalini tried again when she couldn’t get a rise out of her. The dark-skinned woman watched her. “You’ve aged well at least. Must be the Black genes. She has aged well, wouldn’t you say, Blaise?”  
  
Blaise cocked his head at Narcissa Malfoy’s frame. Time had been kind to her. He only wished he knew how. She’d thrown herself out a window, in front of the Sun, she  _shouldn’t_  be sitting in front of him at all – let alone as a human. He wouldn’t mind knowing her secret either.  
  
Nalini narrowed her eyes at her old friend and stood in a huff. “Draco’s gone missing. Did you know?” She cocked an eyebrow. “Do you know where he is? He’s missing work you know. Such poor work ethic.” Still no response. “Fine.” Nalini got up and walked to the door. “Blaise.” The boy was still staring at his friend’s mother. He came over quick enough though, so she didn’t mind. “Find out where Draco is. If she still doesn’t answer,” Nalini added realising she had Narcissa’s attention now, “turn her.” She glared at the human in the room. “We’ll  _starve_  it out of her.”  
  


  
  
Neville was looking out the kitchen window when Harry left the group in the living room the next afternoon. They had decided to leave at first light the next day to get the maximum of time on the road during daylight hours. That way, they could regroup at Draco’s home and move from there.  
  
“What’s going on, Nev?” he asked as he approached. He and Ron had taken watch duty last night. Harry had been on his way over to tell the man to go and get some rest. But if he was seeing something outside, then they had better things to worry about.  
  
Neville turned to Harry and smiled. “Nothing big. Malfoy’s lying down in the back, is all. He’s been staring at the sky for ages. I was just about to call you. I think he’s gone mad or something.”  
  
Harry looked out the window to see high grass in the field behind. He wouldn’t be surprised though. Draco had a recently developed obsession with looking at the sky during the day.  
  
“He’s out there. He just hasn’t moved,” Neville added, seeing that Harry couldn’t see anything.   
  
Harry shook his head. “Thanks Neville. I’ll go call him in.” He walked around Neville to the back door. “Go and get some rest, Nev. I mean it.” He left the house then, making a beeline for where Neville had pointed to. He wasn’t worried. Not really, anyway. Dobby had warded a wide perimeter around the house, after all. He was mostly concerned about Draco coming outside in the Autumn weather and staying there for such long periods of time. As a vampire, one didn’t have to worry about becoming sick. As a human, it was a constant struggle to stay healthy.  
  
“When I said rest, this wasn’t what I had in mind.” He looked down at the man laying in the afternoon’s dim sunlight. At least he was dressed properly. He even had on the woollen hat Harry'd put on him two days before. Harry smiled at him fondly.  
  
“Look at that.” Draco pointed upward. Harry looked up. “Look at it. Acres upon acres of it.” Draco was speaking as if he were in awe of it all. “What the hell was I thinking giving this up?”  
  
“From what you told me last night,” Harry said lying down next to him, “you had a good idea of why you did it.” Draco turned on his side, looking Harry in the eye. “She would be very proud of you. Believe that.” Draco nodded, looking down. “Hey.” Harry hooked a finger under his chin to look at him. “I mean that. You’re a good man. As a human and as a vampire. What she sacrificed for you, it wasn’t in vain. I promise you that.”  
  
Draco cocked an eyebrow at his words. “These promises of yours. I’m just going to disregard them.” He sat up and looked down at the man lying beside him. "I believe you should just stop making promises. The world would be better off.”  
  
“Is that so?”  
  
Draco nodded, laughing as Harry wrestled him on top of him. He sat there eyeing him carefully. “That is so. Empty promises hurt.”  
  
“You want to get drunk that badly?”  
  
Draco smirked and leaned forward, putting both hands on either side, trapping Harry in place as he tugged at his collar and licked the protruding twin scars that lay on the side of his neck. As Harry arched, Draco chuckled at the instant hard-on he could feel under his arse where he sat. “Hmm, not so much anymore.”  
  
Harry’s arms were around his waist near immediately, holding him where he was as he kissed him, moving his hands over his back and neck. They came to rest once more over the swell of Draco’s arse. He squeezed and Draco gasped a bit, grinding his pelvis down against Harry, who moaned in response. A small electric charge went up his spine and redirected to his cock just knowing he could elicit that response, and he did it again just because he could. Harry’s arms slipped with ease from Draco’s hips to his waist, pulling Draco firmly against him as the kiss deepened and their thrusts got harder. He pushed his hands up under Draco’s jumper, letting his hands slide against Draco’s skin as he did.   
  
A light breeze blew, making Draco shiver. As Harry started to pant with uneven breaths, Draco could feel Harry’s swollen prick stiffen even further and disregarded the cold. His eyes closed as his forehead dropped to Harry’s shoulder, shuddering at the shocks of sensation when the brunet began to lick and suck at his neck in all the right places. Harry held onto his hips, pulling him toward him as he thrust upward harder. Draco tightened his fingers in Harry’s jumper. “Harder…” Harry did one better, reaching between them and undoing the button and fly of their trousers. As Draco was exposed to the autumn air, he shivered and cried out when Harry licked his palm and took both of their erections in his hand and began stroking from base to tip.  
  
Draco didn’t last long, his eyes shutting tight as he came thrusting hard and long all over Harry’s hand. Where he rested, he could feel the tingle of a cleaning charm over his skin. He raised his head to look at Harry, his face so beautifully vibrant, eyes smoky with desire. Harry was smiling at him and cupped his face in his hands. While their breaths evened out, they shared slow languid kisses, their tongues freely caressing the other. The kiss slowly ended and their faces rested together.  
  


  
  
“Take this exit.” Hermione’s voice continued to navigate Ron through the streets of London. When Draco saw the coffee house he always went to on days when he got just a little too desperate, he took over, taking them through the shortcut to his home.  
  
“Pull in around the back. I don’t want anyone to see the car. They’ll know it’s not mine.” Ron drove into the driveway that circled around to the back of the house. As they all got out, Seamus looked around.   
  
“Everyone keeps their house blocked up during the day?” Draco turned from the keypad at the back of his house and nodded. “So anyone could come and steal what they have when they’re locked up indoors? That’s stupid.”   
  
Draco shrugged as he keyed in the last digit. “That’s life.”   
  
As they walked inside, Harry stopped. “Hold on, do you hear that?” There were rapid footsteps above them. The sound was eerie.  
  
Draco frowned and turned to Harry. “I don’t have an upstairs.”  
  
Harry glanced at him while they all stayed very still. “Attic?” Draco shook his head. The footsteps came again, this time followed by a shriek, hard and feral. Draco recognised it immediately. He’d tested enough of them to know how they sounded.  
  
“On the table.” Harry gave him a confused look. “Open the shields around the house. There’s a remote next to you on the table. The red one.” He turned to see it lying on the table next to the couch.  
  
Harry’s hand inched closer and closer, not wanting to make any sudden moves. The shriek, however, got higher as if the creature knew what he was doing. The large body of it streaked across Draco’s living room and knocked Seamus down. Harry grabbed the remote and pressed down the button that said ‘open’ as hard as he could, as if the extra pressure would make the shield drop faster. Seamus was yelling unable to get to his gun as the subsider swiped and tried to bite at him. It was so strong, but just before it could bite down on Seamus’ arm, the bright Sun came through the window. It shrieked again, this time painfully, and flew up to dig its claws in Draco’s ceiling again. As the Sun lit up the room, Draco could see the numerous dug out marks up there and the mess it had made of his home. He was glad he’d invested in the floor to ceiling windows for his backyard. Even as the subsider tried to crawl away from the light, the Sun’s rays followed it to the ceiling and turned it to ash where it clung.  
  
A sudden thought occurred to him as he watched the ash fall.   
  
“Asher?” Draco called. “Asher!” He walked around his one level home calling her name.  
  
“Who’s Asher?” Dean asked.  
  
“His cat,” Hermione answered, still hearing Draco calling out her name.  
  
Harry walked up to the rather large window that had been broken down. “I’m guessing it got in here some time during the night.” Harry looked around the break. “Why would it crash land through here though?”  
  
“He was hungry,” he heard and turned around. “He went after my cat.” Draco was holding a grey cat to his chest. It was purring, as if happy to see him. “Figures why the room is so broken up. It was chasing her around. I found her under my bed.” The cat looked as if it had taken a few swipes to its hind leg. “You hungry girl? Yeah? Let’s go take a look in the fridge, see if we can cheer you up.” He took her with him to the fridge, where he took out one of the numerous small containers he kept in there filled with meat chunks and rice grains. He opened it and let her eat out of it on the counter. When he looked up, he saw everyone staring at him. “What?”  
  
They turned away. “Well, if the Sun is still out and everyone is locked in, then it’s safe to say we won’t be getting out of here until tonight.  
  
“No,” Draco said, running his hand continuously down Asher’s back. “I know Theo’s house number and his key. I could get in now. We’ll just have to wake him up.” 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This piece of fiction is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made, no copyright or trademark infringement, or offense is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent. Many Thanks to the HP Lexicon and Google Maps (with Street View). Also thanks to Edinburgh University for their insight on instant spray on bandages. You’re all awesome.

Keying in the last number, Draco led the group into Theo’s living room. The layout of the house was exactly the same, except for the decorations. That was all Pansy. They sat down, looking around as Draco turned to the hallway towards Theo’s bedroom. He didn’t have to go far.  
  
Theo stood in his boxers and a robe with a beater bat in his hand. He let out a forced breath of relief. “Fucking Merlin, Draco, I thought someone was breaking in. What the hell are you doing here? It’s two o’clock in the bloody afternoon! I have to be at work in four hours.” He rubbed his eyes tiredly and leaned against the wall.  
  
Draco smirked. “You’re such a drama queen, Theo.”   
  
“Teddy?” All eyes focused on the hallway, where Pansy was now walking outside. “Is everything okay?” Eyes on Draco, she straightened. “Draco.”  
  
“Pansy,” Draco said, his voice going colder.  
  
“It’s nothing, Pans, go back to sleep.”  
  
“Who are those people?” she asked. Harry cocked an eyebrow and turned to Ron, who smirked. She must _really_ be tired.  
  
“I’m about to find out myself. Go on, I’ll be right there.”  
  
She turned in the corridor. “Hurry up.” She blearily eyed everyone in the room before leaving.  
  
Theo nodded after her. “I will.” When she was gone, he turned back to Draco. “One day, you’re all going to have to talk,” Theo said, as if he’d had enough of the behaviour.  
  
Draco answered in kind. “One day crups are going to fly.”  
  
Theo heaved an exaggerated breath. “Out with it then. Why have you woke me up at this ungodly hour?” He eyed him condescendingly. “I’m finally being allowed to sleep after everything... you do realise the days are getting shorter right? At this rate we’ll become diurnal.” Draco laughed.  
  
“I’m already diurnal, Ted.” Theo looked up at him.  
  
Ron nudged Hermione. “What’s diurnal?” he whispered to her quietly.  
  
“Opposite of nocturnal, Ron,” she whispered with a roll of her eyes.  
  
Theo, however, with his sensitive hearing, picked up on their aside and focused in on them, Seamus, Dean and finally Harry. Twenty/two eyesight showed bright and clear the green irises so well talked about up to twenty years ago, when he killed the Dark Lord. Shocked, for the first time since he saw his first subsider, Theo stumbled to the side and away from him and fell. He held out his beater bat in order to warn them away. Draco came closer and Theo looked at him properly since he, so used to his clear eyes, didn’t think to look closer to realise they were  _grey_.  
  
“Holy shit...” He hit a side table and quickly turned to right it before it fell over. Draco stepped slowly closer. “Fuck me,” he whispered reverently. “How?” He was reaching forward only to catch himself doing it and snatching his hand away. “How the fuck is this  _possible_?”  
  
“Theo,” Draco said carefully, “there’s a cure.”   
  
“A c-c-c,” he stuttered.  
  
“Yeah, a c-c-c,” Draco replied amused. “It’s amazing. I’ve never felt so... alive.”  
  
Theo let out a disbelieving laugh as he reached out again to touch Draco’s face. “Oh my... oh my  _god_.” He laughed again, but with less incredulity. “Do you know what this means?” He said in awe of the pink flush on Draco’s cheeks.  
  
“It means everything is going to  _shit_.”  
  
The group turned to see Pansy glaring at them all accusingly and holding a cordless phone in her hands. Draco stood up from where he was crouched in front of Theo and held up a placating hand.   
  
“Pansy, put down the phone.” She shrugged and threw it down on the couch next to Seamus. Draco noted the ease with which she’d let it go. “Who did you call?” he asked in dread. “Pansy,” he said more stern than before. She actually jumped. “ _Who_  did you call?”   
  
She glared at him, obviously over her small scare. “Who do you think I called?” She looked around. “You’re all crazy coming into our home like this.” She snapped her gaze back to Draco. “They’re looking for you, you know. There’s a reward and everything.” Draco put down his hands.  
  
“So once again, you’re selling me out.” He chuckled humourlessly. “Figures.” He gestured to the phone nonchalantly. “Every galleon I have left, I’d bet that was Blaise.” She shrank back a little. “Oh don’t bother with that routine. Your guilty face doesn’t convince me. The fact that you’ve done this to me  _again_  tells me everything. What did you do it for this time? Money?”  
  
“I did it for everyone. Theo only just came home last night celebrating his find and now you’re here to take it all away!” she screamed at him.  
  
Draco paused and looked at Theo. “What is she talking about?”  
  
Theo pulled himself up and dropped his beater bat on the ground. He walked into his study and came back with a folder. He handed it to Draco. As Draco read through it, his eyes scanning the formulas and the clinical trials, his eyes rose, wide in disbelief.  
  
Theo shrugged. “I guess when it rains, it pours, yeah?”  
  
Draco nodded, his mind elsewhere. “Does she know?”  
  
Theo didn’t need to ask him who he was talking about. “Not yet. I send her the report tonight. I was so tired last night, at first I thought I was hallucinating. You know how in there can be.” Draco agreed with him.  
  
Forcing them all out of their thoughts, the back door opened again and a man dressed head to toe in black military gear came in, shutting the door behind him. The armed humans in the room stood at the ready as the man reached up to his neck and compressed a button that pulled back the pitch black visor of his helmet. Dark skin and pale blue eyes met them.  
  
“Draco, for fuck’s sake, what the hell are you doing?” He holstered his weapon. “There are people all over searching...” Blaise paused and squinted at him. “No fucking way.” He stood still and looked around the room. “No. Fucking. Way.” His gaze snapped back to his friend. “You too?” He rubbed his eyes.  
  
Draco frowned, confused. “What do you mean, ‘Me too’? Who else?”  
  
Blaise looked around at the people in the room, blinking sharply. Harry surveyed him suspiciously. “We stopped a convoy on the way to Manchester – broke into teams – I came for you, following the Lojack on your car, the rest went for the humans. One of them... If I had a heart, I would probably have got a heart attack.” He shook his head as if he still couldn’t believe it. He shook it again.  
  
“Who was it?”  
  
“Narcissa.” Draco backed up and sat shakily on the arm of Theo’s couch. “Mum’s got her in the company suite. She’s trying to get you back. You guys were so close on your last set of trials, she doesn’t want to let you all go. She’s keeping her there to convince you to come back. If you don’t get a substitute, she says she’ll get the cure out of her instead.”  
  
“She has my mother?” Draco said quietly. He turned to Harry. “My mother is working with you?”  
  
Harry seemed a little guilty. “She does but Hermione couldn’t get through to her when she put out her calls to the team leaders. We were trying to locate her before we told you she was with us.” He sighed. “I didn’t want to tell you she was alive just before we found out she was dead.”  
  
Draco was listening. He just couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This wasn’t  _possible_. “No, this is impossible, my mum is dead. Father spread her ashes.”  
  
“Where?” Blaise asked blinking.  
  
“He-” Draco’s breath hitched. “he wouldn’t tell me. But the Dark Lord sent people out there to clean up her ashes from the rose garden.”  
  
Blaise shook his head. “We never found them. The Dark Lord sent us to look for her after the Sun went down, but we never found her. We never found anything. She was gone.” He took off his helmet. Draco stared at his ears.  
  
“Blaise...”  
  
He nodded. “I know. Soldiers in the ranks don’t really get the ‘life’ they advertised.” He looked around. “I’m starving actually.”  
  
The living room was then subjected to a variety of guns being cocked.  
  
“She wanted me to turn her,” he continued as if it never happened. “I couldn’t do it.” Blaise was watching him. “I wanted to. I was so _hungry_. I’ve done it before, when we’ve found humans. No one misses a pint, right?” he smiled to himself even as his eye twitched. “For some reason, though, looking at Narcissa. I just couldn’t. I actually felt sick.” Draco swallowed. One of Blaise’s eyes had a pink tint. His eyes were turning red.  
  
“How do you feel now?”  
  
Blaise nodded. “I still feel sick, guilty, I suppose. My stomach hurts the most though. I’m so hungry.”  
  
Harry reached forward for Draco, to pull him back. Draco glared at him. “If he attacks he could kill you,” Harry explained.  
  
“I wouldn’t do that to him,” Blaise said through angry clenched teeth. His canines elongating.  
  
Harry gave him an obvious look. “When you’re hungry you’ll do anything. Believe me.”  
  
Blaise stepped forward. “I  _wouldn’t_  do that to  _him_ ,” Blaise repeated and charged at him.  
  
The two men tumbled to the floor rolling. Only when Draco saw the blood spilling did he realise that Blaise had bitten him. Seamus had his gun aimed at them, but the two wouldn’t keep still. He looked over to Ron to see he was having the same problem. It was Theo who stopped it. With a resounding crack, Blaise was knocked dizzy. He let go of Harry and groaned in pain, holding his stomach as well as his head.   
  
Heavy breathing echoed in the room.  
  
Harry sat up and allowed himself to get dragged across the floor to the wall. Dean stood guard, aiming his gun at the three vampires in the room. Pansy stood back, behind Theo with her hand across her mouth. Hermione was busy reaching into her messenger bag.  
  
“Oh Hermione, stop talking to those idiots in Edinburgh, they never have anything good to say anyway,” she mumbled in a rough voice that sounded remarkably like Ron, as she broke the seal of the spray can. “Hold still Harry.” She shook the can and sprayed thick foam directly onto the bite. “Leave it there for a few minutes. We can rub it in later.” She stood up, staring at Ron as she did so and cocked an eyebrow. “I’ll let that speak for itself.” She put the lid back on the spray and shoved it back in her bag. The wound on Harry’s neck stopped bleeding.  
  
The groaning on the floor was waning out now and Draco turned Blaise as he lay on the floor on his stomach with his arm stretched out. Ron was walking up behind him and watched as Blaise opened his eyes. Draco registered that Ron was picking up the beater’s bat again, but stopped him as he noticed something odd.  
  
Blaise was  _breathing_.  
  
“Wait!” he said sharply and kneeled down.  
  
Ron, flushed with frustration glared at him. “Malfoy!”  
  
“No! Hold on.” He bent down and really looked at the dark-skinned man on the floor. “Blaise?” Blaise opened his eyes again, a dark whiskey gaze staring back at Draco’s grey. Draco sucked in a breath and nearly wavered as he let it out. “Blaise...” He hooked his arms under Blaise’s armpits and pulled him up. “Blaise, look at me. That’s it, look at me.” He gasped. “Oh my god, Harry, come here, quickly.” He looked up and saw Hermione. “Granger, _look_.”  
  
Hermione came closer faster than Harry, who had to crawl a little. “Oh my...” She turned to see Harry’s reaction. “He’s human." She frowned. "But, he was becoming a subsider. Is there a stage after that?" She turned to Draco, directing her question to him. He worked with them every day, surely he would know.  
  
Draco shook his head. "It can't be what you're thinking. I've seen enough of them to know there is no stage after that."  
  
Hermione was shaking her head, deep in thought. She looked back and forth between Blaise and Harry. "He fed from you last. Maybe feeding from you turned him human.”  
  
Harry frowned. “That doesn’t...” He sat back, shock adding to the stark pallor of his face. “Unless it’s because I reverted.” He looked up at Hermione and Draco, wonder colouring his tone.  
  
“I have to get my mother,” Draco said seriously. Harry nodded and looked to Ron, who sighed.  
  
Ron eyed Blaise and all the equipment strapped to his person. “We’re going to need reinforcement.” 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This piece of fiction is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made, no copyright or trademark infringement, or offense is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent. Many Thanks to the HP Lexicon and Google Maps (with Street View). Also thanks to Edinburgh University for their insight on instant spray on bandages. You’re all awesome.
> 
> This was written for the hp_creatures fest 2011 for izzie_frutas who gave the prompt of Daybreakers where, 'in 2019, the most precious natural resource, is us'. It was an awesome movie. I had to have it. Now that the reveal is up, I can post it here. It's quite large, so I split it up.

Zabini ABRHO Tech stood majestic on Westferry Road in Poplar, overlooking the Thames River. At night, the lights shone bright indoors as they drove around the roundabout and took the second exit to Heron Quays. Ron parked in the PC Harrington Group car park, taking off his headlights.  
  
“You won’t get a lot of people walking around at this time of night in there. Lunch is at ten.” Ron shook his head at the odd hour. He pulled out his radio.  
  
“Do I have my eyes in the sky?” He waited.  
  
“ _Affirmative. We are here and waiting._ ”  
  
“Do you have a visual of the target?”  
  
There was a long pause. Draco bit into his lip as he waited for word on his mother. When the radio static sounded, he jumped. “ _That’s affirmative. Location: floor fifteen on northwest side_ ” Draco let out the breath he’d been holding in and sat back.  
  
“Is she alive?”  
  
“ _Unsure, target is lying down and not moving._ ”  
  
“We need to get upstairs,” Draco said urgently.  
  
“How do you think we’re gonna do that?” Ron said acerbically. “The ground floor is crawling with guards.”  
  
Draco got out of the car, deftly avoiding the hands that grabbed at him to stay inside. “Lab rats get their own entrance because of the lousy hours. Another part of our care package,” he said with equal acidity and continued to walk around the building. There was a keypad there that opened into a lift. He was aware that just by keying in his number, he could alert people he was there. Therefore, he typed in Theo’s. The doors were about to close when Harry rushed in after him.  
  
“I don’t know what the hell you think you’re doing. You’re trying to get yourself killed, I’m sure of it.” He leaned back against the lift wall. “What floor?” he said as they ascended.  
  
“It automatically goes to my department floor. It’s only me and Theo that come in at this time so no one should be there.”  
  
“Should?” Harry asked and reached behind him to pull his wand out of his back pocket.  
  
Draco shrugged. “I haven’t been to work in a while. People would have noticed by now.” The doors opened on his last word and they walked out into the white corridor. Draco looked left and right, behind the glass into the workstations to see if anyone was there. All the workstations were empty. “What did I tell y...” Draco paused and stopped walking as his eyes lit upon the subjects in the clinical trial cells. “X1490s.” His hands flattened against the glass wall as he took them all in. Still vampires, but absent of any and all traces of subsider signs. “Amazing, Theo,” he said quietly before radio static had him focusing on the task at hand.   
  
“ _Harry?_ ”  
  
Harry pulled a small radio out of his front pocket and spoke into it, “Yeah, Ron, I’m here.”  
  
“ _She’s been moved to the eighteenth floor. I don’t know what’s up there, to tell you the truth._ ”  
  
“It’s Nalini’s office floor,” Draco said.  
  
“Zabini’s office, Ron,” Harry relayed. “We’re on our way.”  
  
“ _If that’s the case, she may know you’re there. Get in and out ASAP._ ”  
  
“Will do.”  
  
Harry turned to Draco. “We need a lift.”  


 

  
  
There was arguing behind the door to the end of the corridor. Draco began to run toward it, ignorant of Harry’s calls to slow down and wait. He stormed into the room, his heart in his throat when he heard the arguing stop and a muffled thump behind the solid oak door. “Mother!”  
  
A blond woman stood over Nalini Zabini, who’d landed on her knees after being hit with a small figurine statue. She turned at hearing Draco’s voice and gasped when she saw him. She hadn’t expected to see him again in her lifetime. She threw the figurine to a corner of the room joining him with her arms out, welcoming him in. “I knew you weren’t dead. I couldn’t believe that when she told me.”  
  
Draco laughed through his tears. “Quite the opposite, actually.” Narcissa pulled away, startled, and looked him in the eye. The joy that spread on her face was one that couldn’t be countered.   
  
Harry turned to see Nalini Zabini shaking off the blow Narcissa had given her. She stood shaking it off and eyed them all warily. “A room full of humans and nary a soul to tell how.” Her gaze fixed upon Harry. “Well, as the day is dark. Harry Potter. I wondered what happened to you. You got old.”  
  
“Not as old as you, though. How are things?” he asked casually.  
  
“Oh,” she said as she walked casually around her desk. “Not as copacetic as you’d think. I married again.”  
  
“Oh?” he said.  
  
“Mmm,” she said mildly as she nodded and opened up her decanter. “Didn’t stick around for long. Died nearly eight years ago.”  
  
Draco rolled his eyes. “Imagine that.”  
  
She gave him a knowing smile. “Indeed. But,” she said with renewed vigour, “he left me with this glorious company.” She paused to pour out a glass of what looked to be red wine. “Terrible shame. I had to rename it, you know. I couldn’t stand to see his name up in lights without crying.” She wiped her finger along the lip of the decanter, slipping it in her mouth as she put the stopper back in.  
  
“I’m sure,” Narcissa said derisively.  
  
“Nalini ignored her. “So, Draco.” She took a sip of her ‘wine’. “Do tell your secret.”  
  
“Why? Substitute not good enough?”  
  
The dark-skinned woman seemed shocked. “I wasn’t aware there was one.” She swirled the liquid in her glass. It looked too viscous to be wine. “What would I want with it anyway, besides marketing?” Draco frowned. She gave him a look reminiscent of a parent explaining something that should be on par with a reception-level child. “The substitute is all well and good for the masses. They can swim in it for all I care.” A red light began to flash unseen to the other occupants in the room, as Nalini pressed the emergency button for security. “The more elite, however,” she said getting up from her desk, “know exactly how exquisite the  _good stuff_  tastes. And I,” she added as she walked closer to him, “know exactly how  _much_  the good stuff costs.”  
  
“You’re not going to stop farming humans?”  
  
She looked aghast. “Are you joking?” She held her glass to her. “Have you ever tasted a diabetic, Draco? It’s the sweetest thing you will ever have past your lips. We have a whole branch of them being used for syrups. It’s amazing.” She glanced at Harry. “And now that there is a substitute, as you say, the more fortunate will have the pick of the litter.”  
  
“I think I’m going to be sick,” Narcissa said sitting down. Harry sat with her on the couch.   
  
Draco turned to Nalini. “That was the whole point, the reason why we stayed up at night fighting to get a substitute done. So that you could extort money out of people? That’s not what I worked for!”  
  
Nalini Zabini raised her glass as she leaned one hand against her desk. “Yes, I’m afraid it is.”  
  
“And the humans. The ones who are like me?”  
  
She shrugged. “What can I say? The more the merrier for me. If I can get your cure, I’d be able to restock the shelves, if you will.”  
  
Draco shook his head, honestly disgusted. He sighed. “So humans are still going to be near the bottom of the food chain,” he stated to himself. He glanced at Harry. Draco’s change in tone made him frown.  
  
“’Fraid so,” Zabini said as she snorted into her wine.  
  
“Will you turn me back?” He broke gaze with Harry just as his eyes went wide in alarm. “If I ask you to, will you change me back?”  
  
Zabini was instantly wary. “Why?” Her glance at Harry and Narcissa showed her they obviously had no idea about this. Harry looked disappointed and Narcissa looked very upset by what she was hearing.  
  
“Draco, no...”  
  
“You actually have to ask? It can’t be too hard to change a person.” Draco reasoned. “It must have been a while since you’ve sunk your teeth into a human, no? Can you imagine? The blood still warm and flowing, not thick and congealing. They say it pumps into your mouth if you bite correctly. Some say the human heart can pump blood up to nine metres away if it’s coming out of their jugular.” He moved closer to her as he spoke and undid the top two buttons of his shirt. “I’m not too keen on being on the bottom of the food chain. I can give you the cure, but I want a secure investment here.” He looked down at her glass and let a small frown mar his brow. “But, if you’re happy with your glass of ‘diluted wine’,” he said and turned around. “I’ll just find someone else-” He didn’t get much else out, but a yell as Nalini attacked him. The pain of it was nothing like his first bite. This was more frenzied, much less controlled, and it was taking Harry far too long to help him out here.  
  
Just as he thought it, Nalini fell to the ground in pain as her decanter was smashed over her head.  
  
“Ow,” Draco said as he held his neck. He hissed. “Shit.”  
  
“Good thing she didn’t go for the jugular. I didn’t bring Hermione’s wonder spray.”  
  
Draco shook his head. His neck felt very sore. It’s okay. I just need to keep pressure on it for now.” He rested against Nalini’s desk and stared at her groaning body. “I didn’t plan this far ahead.”  
  
Narcissa stood up from where she was holding the cloth to Draco’s neck. “That’s what mother’s are for.”  
  
When Nalini next awoke, it was to Draco’s voice speaking to his mother as she tied Nalini to her desk chair. “I am never going to be able to look Blaise in the face again.”  
  
“You’ll definitely need to talk after this, I can tell you.” That was Harry Potter's voice.  
  
“What?” she began. “What’s going on?” When she was able to focus, she saw crystal blue eyes staring at her. Rearing back a little, she noticed two things. Firstly, the person was Narcissa, secondly, she was tied to a chair in her private elevator.  
  
Narcissa smiled at her, but Nalini had the distinct impression it was not meant to be pleasant. “You’re going down, Nalini.”  
  
The doors closed on her and the lift music, upbeat and pleasant played for her as she descended. Nalini felt her heart beating rapidly and paused. Looking down to her chest, she noticed her rapid breathing.  _Human_  drifted through her mind as she stopped on the bottom floor. A sharp sounding ‘ding’ rang in her ears as the doors opened. The lobby of the company was filled with guards, all of them on her salary. She looked upon them with her heart beating out of control and knew, just from the looks on their faces, that they could hear it and were confused by it. Frowns turned to realisation, realisation turned to hunger. The few in front that twitched and shook their heads, blinked at her and, though she could tell they were hungry, they moved slowly. She hadn’t treated them well. The company advertised care packages to all, but in light of the shortage, there just wasn’t enough to go around. She may have been a little greedy, but a girl has to eat, and eat well, if she had to run the company from the ground up. The first guard to approach her, still not sure if he was seeing and hearing correctly, then caught sight of the cut on her head where Harry had hit her with her glass decanter. Blood has spilled on her clothes and her own had bled out onto her temple.   
  
A flash of red in his eyes was all she saw before he descended on her.  


 

  
  
“You guys alright?” Ron asked as the car skidded to a stop in front of the private elevator. “Mrs Malfoy,” he said in greeting to their extra passenger.  
  
She nodded in acknowledgement. Harry got in the front seat. “How are things out front?”  
  
“Absolute madness. You can see a few of the guards feeding on each other. The blood is flowing all over the place. I don’t know who’s going to clean that up. Glad it’s not me.”  


 

  


*****Two Years Later*****

  
  
Zabini Inc. stood tall among the other buildings in Poplar, its windows gleaming in the daylight. The general populace walked around him, indulging in their day to day lives. Three people passed with their mobile phones plastered to their ears, a group of teenagers ran toward Heron Quays Docklands Light Railway station on their way to school. Draco turned his head upward towards the sky. His life was a little different now. Having learned a bit of muggle culture, he’d found it wasn't so bad when all was said and done. Removing his sunglasses, he smiled at the sky he could see, bright and blue and so  _clear_.  
  
“Ready?” He jumped and looked to his left, where Harry was standing waiting for him.  
  
“How long have you been there?”  
  
“Long enough to know you have a fascination with the sky.” He smiled, even white teeth bright in the Sun. He held out his hand. “You ready? The show starts in ten minutes.”  
  
Draco got up, glancing once more at the advert the paste-up artists had just finished securing to the billboard at the bus stop outside the company building.  


 

****


End file.
